Victor Hullburt and the Curse of Genetics
by Captain Frankle
Summary: Victor Hullburt lives in St Valentines Magical Home for Boys until Hagrid finally delivers his Hogwarts letter. He HAS to go to Hogwarts: not only is it an escape but maybe he can learn about his parents and why they left him on the doorstep of St Valentines. But is it really worth delving into your past when the truth will tear those around you apart? Eventual TeddyxOC, slash
1. Introductions

"Bellatrix,' the Dark Lord said, placing his hand against the sobbing woman's shoulder, 'Control yourself."

The woman stood instantly only to bow so the tip of her nose was almost touching the marble floor of Malfoy Manor.

"My Lord,' she whispered, her voice hoarse from her previous wails of delight, "I am so...so immensely full of joy."

Voldemort held out his hand. Pressing her lips gently upon his knuckles, the witch seemed to inhale the scent of his skin before continuing.

"This is an honor. I will not fail you my Lord."

She dared to raise her eyes to those of the dark and powerful man she loved so much. Their eyes met and she couldn't help but shiver in anticipation. As she lowered her eyes once more, she didn't see the smirk that twisted Lord Voldemort's lips.

* * *

"The child Bella, think of the child!' Rodolphus pleaded to his wife, 'We must protect him!"

Bellatrix turned, the bundle in her arms held so close it appeared to mould to her body. Her eyes were burning bright with an anger that even her husband had never seen before as she drew her wand and threw a hex in his direction. He dodged of course, used to his wife's insurmountable fits of rage, but the pleading expression remained.

"You would give up your own flesh and blood so easily?!' he asked, side-stepping another flash of blue light, 'And so soon after his birth?!"

"Of course I would,' she hissed back, 'Why would you not to the same for our Great Lord? Surely you understand the honor that has fallen upon us?"

Suddenly, the pieces of the puzzle seemed to click in Rodolphus' head. His face turned blank.

"The child is his,' he muttered, 'This was his plan. For you."

Bellatrix gave a loud cackle while the baby slept silently in her arms.

"The child is his,' she replied dreamily, 'The Dark Lord chose me to carry him, to ensure the safety of his entry into our world. It is an honor. An HONOR."

And with that, she stormed from the front door of the Lestrange household, leaving Rodolphus to clear his thoughts.

* * *

Victor pressed his hand against the steamed glass of his window leaving behind a large, condensation free spot on the pane. He dragged his finger around the outside, outlining it with the natural oils from his hand. Sighing, he stared through the clear spot to the rainy world outside. It hadn't stopped raining for several days now and his feet longed to go outside and jump in the steadily growing puddles until he was well and truly soaked like all the other eleven year old boys at the St Valentine's Magical Home for Boys. Victor looked at his reflection, making out the black, chin length hair that framed his pale face and unnaturally large, coal-like eyes that were surrounded by thick eyelashes. His face was thin like many of the other boys here but his already prominent cheekbones and pasty complextion made him constantly look close to death. He tried puffing out his cheeks in order to look a little more intimidating but it only stirred an irritation in his throat. He coughed quickly, steaming up the glass once more and sighed again. Damn his ill health.

Victor had been at St Valentines ever since he could remember. The dreary, beige walls and carers with their warty noses, wands and memory banks filled with useless spells and terrifying stories weren't quite his home but they were as close as they would ever get. The nurses never told the children how they were found but one particularly nice squib by the name of Mrs Figg was nice enough to tell Victor that he had been left by a beautiful woman with his 'pretty eyes', claiming she loved the baby dearly but if either the muggle police or Ministry of Magic were to find her, Victor would be taken away. He liked the idea that he was an outlaw, even before he could speak despite knowing that the story may have been embellished slightly. He never told the other children at the home but felt the adrenaline rush when they were playing Outlaws and he was the only one who truly knew what that meant.

Victor snapped out of his thoughts and went back to the scene outside of the window, only to see a huge figure walking up the front path, boys of all ages dancing around him in their completely water-tight blue wellies and violently green raincoats. The figure, of course, was Hagrid, keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was hard to mistake him for anyone else. The man was unnaturally large with a beard that looked like the smaller children from the home could play hide'n'seek within it and never be found. Many of the boys had tried to test out this theory but had always been caught at the last minute by the watchful eyes of one of the carers. The closest anyone had gotten was when Benjamin Almer had managed to push Kevin Kerrich in until only his small, pink feet were protruding from the beard. Currently Hagrid's mouth was open in what looked like a laugh as the boys tried all sorts of tactics to persuade him to give him their Hogwarts letters before he entered the ancient house that was St Valentines. Victor tore his eyes away and dashed downstairs, past the portrait of Harry Potter and through the slightly damp and dark hall. It was finally his year to go to Hogwarts. No more watching as the other boys received their letters and left without him. He hastily walked (no running allowed indoors) into the living room where a soggy Hagrid was greeting the head of the home, Mrs Ellwood.

"Righ' nasty business, this weather,' complained Hagrid, shaking himself off like a dog before pulling a satchel off his shoulder and dumping it on the table which swayed under the weight, 'No wonder the Ministry is bannin' me from usin' my normal bike. I'd probably fall off!"

"Perhaps,' said Mrs Ellwood, frowning as she dusted some stray water droplets off her once pristine tweed attire.

Mrs Ellwood was a strict woman with light blonde hair that was fading to grey and a thin face that struck fear into the hearts of most wizards. She may have been terrible to encounter on a midnight snack raid, but she was fair. Victor had been saved from older, stronger boys' teasing words many times by her.

"Hello there Victor!' cried Hagrid, noticing him standing in the doorway.

"Good afternoon Hagrid,' he replied, bowing his head slightly.

"There'll be none o' that,' said Hagrid, beckoning him over, 'Seein' as you're first, I'll give you your letter."

Victor beamed.

"Yes please,' he said, his excitement barely containable.

Hagrid chuckled and reached into his satchel, digging around for Victor's letter. He seemed to find it and pulled out an envelope. Victor took it (ignoring the slightly dog-eared corner) and tore at the top, wanting to read those words addressed specifically to him.

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Dear Mr. Hullburt_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry..._

Victor continued to read, his heart racing with every word. He was finally going to Hogwarts. He felt so happy he could burst. He didn't even notice the other boys who would be attending Hogwarts enter the room.

"Mrs Ellwood, when are we going to go shopping for our supplies?' he asked eagerly.

"We will be going a week today Victor,' she replied curtly, helping Hagrid hand out the letters to the remaining boys.

It was one of the best days of Victor's life. Running out of the lounge, he escaped to his room, slammed the door and shoved his hand in his pillow, pulling out a green, leather-bound diary. Grabbing a bottle of ink and a feather quill from inside his bedside table, he sat against the door and began to write.

_July 14th,_

_I received my Hogwarts letter today. I'm so happy I could burst! I'm truly ecstatic! That's a word I learnt in english yesterday and it means really, really, really happy! I could not have wished for a better present, even if my birthday is in a week! I hate being so young, I'm going to have to wait forever for my growth spurt! But that can't get me down now because I'm finally going to Hogwarts!_

Victor couldn't think of anything else to write as it would all have the same meaning. He was going to learn magic. Maybe, he'd learn something about his parents too.

'We'll see Victor,' he thought to himself, staring at the window across the room where the silhouette of his hand remained, 'We'll see.'

Victor sat with his back pressed against the wall for another hour or so before he felt someone on the other side trying to push through. Standing quickly, he opened the door a fraction before seeing it was his room mate, Cale Eastman looking positively miserable. Opening the door fully, Cale walked in and fell onto his bed, burying his face deep within his pillows. Knowing he was no good at comforting anyone, Victor shifted uneasily then put his diary back into his own pillow.

"I didn't get my letter,' came a muffled sound from the other side of the room.

"Oh,' was all Victor could say, 'That's...that's a shame."

"I shame?!' cried Cale, sitting up on his bed now and wiping his eyes with his long sleeve, 'While you're at Hogwarts learning how to turn people into animals I'll be here, helping Ellwood wipe the arses of all the babies who can't clean themselves up on their own!"

Victor watched Cale as he began to sob a little more freely now. He tried to feel some empathy for the other boy, tried to find some words of consolidation but just couldn't think of any.

"I'm...I'm sure it'll be fine in the end,' Victor said quietly, trying his luck with those words.

They didn't seem to help. Cale looked him straight in the eyes, black meeting blue.

"You know, you can be a right arsehole Hullburt,' he said before turning back to his pillow.

Victor stood still for a while then left. He didn't really feel like comforting Cale after that (not that he felt like it in the first place). He had bigger things to think about. Like whether he was going to spend his extra galleon from St Valentines on sweets or something explosive from Weasley's Wizard Weezes in Diagon Alley next week.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this. Please Review if you think it's worth reading, what you like/don't like etc. Thanks CF**


	2. Sorting

The Hogwarts Express was trundling quietly along the countryside when Victor met his first true friend.

The boys at the orphanage had always avoided him, thinking he was strange, abnormal (well, more abnormal than just being a wizard). His shortness, weak build and too-big-for-his-face, dark eyes were just features almost designed for him to stand out amongst others. They had many names for him but no matter what they called him, he didn't let them have a reaction. His emotions seemed to be mostly stunted when it came to other people and his reactions to them. He didn't know why, he was just glad that the other boys hadn't quite picked up on this yet, mistaking his indifference for trying to keep himself from fighting back.

He was sitting alone in a compartment on the Hogwarts express, waiting for the rumored trolley lady to visit with her spread of delights when the door slid open. He looked away from the window to see a boy about a foot taller than him with sandy blonde hair and brown eyes poke his head around the door.

"Anyone sat here?' he asked, smiling shyly.

"No, go ahead,' replied Victor, gesturing to the seat opposite him.

The other boy smiled gratefully before walking in and sitting down. Victor returned to staring out of the window. The boy had taken a book out of the small, brown satchel that had been attached to his side and was reading, his eyes rapidly skimming from left to right. Every now and then his tongue would dart out to lick his thumb and finger in order to turn the page with ease. Victor tried to focus on the window but found he couldn't once he began seeing a small blue dot appearing in his perephiral vision. Turning to face the other boy, he was a little surprised to see his hair had turned a violent shade of turquoise.

"Excuse me,' he said quietly, 'Your hair is blue. Did you know?"

The other boy looked up from his book and pulled a tuft of hair in front of his eyes.

"Yeah, it does that,' he muttered, turning back to Victor, 'It tends to reflect my emotions, although blue seems to be a happy colour as opposed to a sad one."

"So why does it...do that?' asked Victor, intrigued.

"I'm a metamorphmagus,' he replied, 'It means I can change my appearance at will, but I haven't quite mastered it yet."

He looked a little embarrassed as the tips of his hair turned pink.

"That's interesting,' said Victor, leaning back in his chair and smiling when the pink strands of hair spread towards the boy's roots.

"I'm Teddy. Teddy Lupin,' said the other boy quickly, trying to distract Victor from the now magenta hair and holding out his hand.

"Victor Hullburt,' he replied, shaking the hand.

After letting go, the silence was back, albeit a little less tense than previously. Teddy's hair left its pinkish-hue and returned to blonde, although a little bit of blue seeped into the strands as he continued reading.

"What house do you think you'll be in?' asked Teddy after twenty minutes of quiet, distracting Victor from his thoughts of nothing.

"I haven't thought about it that much,' Victor said after a few seconds thought, 'I just want to learn magic and Mrs Figg always told us we should just try and be friends with everyone."

"Who's Mrs Figg?' Teddy asked and Victor cursed himself for mentioning the squib.

"She's...just a family friend,' he replied, not wanting to reveal his whole story to this boy just yet, 'What house do you think you'll be in?"

Teddy shrugged but Victor could see him mentally storing the memory of what he had just said. This boy was sharp.

"I don't really know either,' he said, 'My Grandma wants me to be in Gryffindor because that's where my mum and dad were but I don't know. I'm not brave enough for Gryffindor."

Victor nodded, not bothering to ask about where his mum and dad were: he'd probably get the same reaction as he had just given himself.

"Yeah, I don't really want to be in Gryffindor. All the people I've ever met from Gryffindor have been a little pretentious."

Victor thought back to when he was 8 and George Broad had come home from his first term at Hogwarts as a Gryffindor. His haughty attitude and love of bullying the smaller children had only been magnified since the sorting. Bravery was one trait that was valued by Godric Gryffindor; stupidity seemed to be the other.

"I suppose,' Teddy said, tapping a finger against his lip, 'I'm just happy to be going to be honest."

After this conversation, they changed into their robes and words were hardly passed between the two boys. Interspersed, idle chatter seemed to be enough socialising for both of them and sooner than they had expected, they arrived at Hogwarts. After exiting the train, they walked towards the booming voice of Hagrid from the end of the platform.

"Firs' years, over 'ere please,' he bellowed, his voice probably echoing all the way to Hogsmede, the wizarding town just outside of Hogwarts.

"Hello Hagrid,' said Victor.

"Alrigh' Victor? And Teddy, good to see you,' he said, nodding at the boy whose hair was now back to the normal shade of blonde.

"You too Hagrid,' he replied before they were shepherded over to the lake where a small fleet of boats waited to take them to the castle.

Victor's heart was pounding as he stepped cautiously into the first boat. He had never been on a boat before and decided that he didn't really trust them. As he sat down, Teddy followed then they were joined by several more first year students. One girl, Ingrid it seemed, managed to get her foot into the lake by having it slip between the boat and land. Victor chuckled a little at the other girl's misfortune. Once all the first years were loaded onto the boats, they began to move smoothly across the surface of the lake.

'This isn't too bad,' thought Victor, his hand holding tightly onto the side of the boat anyway.

However, he soon forgot his apprehension when the castle came into view. The bright lights, scattered across the land in front of them left Victor and his fellow first years totally in awe. As soon as they reached land, they were forced off the boats and made their way into the castle. They walked quickly, meaning Victor only caught glimpses of the moving staircases and dancing portraits the other boys at the orphanage had told him about. Stopping outside the great hall, the excited chatter died down as a witch with a severe bun, dark green robe and slightly stern face took her place in front of the group.

"Good evening students,' she said, surveying the faces of the crowd, 'I am Professor McGonagoll, headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardary. If you would like to follow me, we will now begin the sorting."

The doors of the hall opened and the swell of noise that had once been present was now hushed. The first years shuffled forward slowly, the eyes of all the hall baring down on them. They made their way up to the front and watched as a disgusting-looking hat was placed on a low stool.

"My Grandma never told me how we were sorted: she wanted it to be a surprise,' Teddy whispered into Victor's ear.

Victor nodded: the boys at the home were forbidden to talk about the sorting ceremony. Victor supposed that it could be because they just wanted to mess with the younger boys by telling them they had to jump into the lake and let the Giant Squid tickle their toes or be forced to duel each other until only the worthy ones were left.

"When I call out your name,' McGonagoll shouted, 'You will come up, take a seat and the hat will be placed on your head. Andrews, Timothy."

A nervous looking boy with blonde hair and blue eyes stepped up to the chair, his legs looking like they had been cursed with the amount of wobbling they were doing. He sat on the stool and McGonagoll dropped the hat over his eyes. After several seconds it gave a roar of "HUFFLEPUFF" and the table of students wearing yellow ties cheered. Timothy looked considerably relieved and went to sit with his house. Several people were sorted before "Hullburt, Victor" was called, and Victor walked up to the stool with as much confidence as he could muster with his girlish looks and slightly hand-me-down robes. He sat down and the hat dropped over his eyes.

"Ah, I see. Victor Hullburt was it? You seem to have a love of knowledge, so perhaps Ravenclaw would suit you. But then again, I feel that there are many things you must discover about yourself, and the only place you can do this is in..."

"SLYTHERIN,' the hat roared into Victor's ear and there was a large amount of cheering from the green table as he made his way over there to sit with the two other first years who introduced themselves as Oliver Gregory and Amelia Edwards.

Teddy had given him a small smile as he walked past but he could see that the other boy was disappointed: everyone knew about the constant rivalry between Slytherin and Gryffindor.

'Ingrim, Catherine' was sorted into Ravenclaw, 'Just, Nathan' into Hufflepuff and 'Kendrich, Katie' was sorted into Gryffindor before 'Lupin, Teddy' was called. Slowly, the boy walked up to the stool, his pink hair become shades darker as he looked around at the interested and smirking faces. The hat was placed on his head and after only a few seconds cried "GRYFFINDOR".

As the hat was removed, Teddy looked relieved. 'His Grandmother will be pleased,' Victor thought.

Once the other first years had been sorted, McGonagoll clapped her hands and a wondrous feast appeared. Victor forgot about Teddy and his ever so slight disappointment that one of the interesting people would not be in his house and tucked in.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I am really enjoying writing this so it would be good to know that you are too! Thanks, CF**


	3. Pumpkin Juice

Ordinarily, the train ride and sorting at Hogwarts are the times to establish yourself as a member of the school community. Everyone makes their greatest friends and worst enemies normally before lessons even start. This isn't what happened to Victor Hullburt. Establishing who was his friend did not happen until mid-morning.

He woke up in his dorm that he was sharing with Oliver Gregory and three other, currently nameless boys at around five. He tried to get back to sleep but once he was awake, it was all he could do to get dressed and go to breakfast. Obviously, no-one was there yet other than the few teachers pottering at the front of the hall but as soon as he sat down, a rack of toast, jam and a warm bowl of honey and porridge appeared before him. He ate slowly and watched as other students began to filter into the room, bleary-eyed and slouching.

After about forty minutes, one of the boys from his dorm room came in and took a place next to him, muttering a 'hello' before helping himself to Victor's toast and strawberry jam.

"What time did you get here?' the boy asked and Victor shrugged.

"Early I suppose,' he replied then went back to slurping his now cold porridge.

The other boy looked at him as if seeing him for the first time, shook his head then went back to his toast.

"I guess anyone would wake up with Henry snoring all night,' he said, clearly anticipating a laugh from Victor but getting nothing but a nod and a quiet 'Yeah'.

The boy opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when a huge stream of pumpkin juice flew from the jug on the table and onto both himself and Victor. Coughing and spluttering, they turned to where the sound of joyous laughter was to see a rather bashful Gryffindor in the middle of his giggling peers. He was rubbing the back of his head and waving his hands apologetically at the two Slytherins.

"Damn Gryffindors,' the boy muttered, wiping a hand down his front in order to quell the drips, 'They know that we don't know any cleaning charms yet. My brother told me that even after the War they still make fun of us. It's a bloody joke!"

"I see,' Victor said, pulling his hair out of his eyes, 'All the Gryffindors I have ever known have been idiots."

"So you don't want my help,' said a voice from behind Victor.

He recognised it as Teddy (with lilac hair today) and also realised that the laughter had died down.

"Good morning,' Teddy said, taking out his wand, 'Do you need a hand?"

"We don't need help from the likes of you,' hissed the other boy, going back to trying to wipe the pumpkin juice off his robes.

"What can you do to help?' asked Victor curiously.

"I'm the clumsiest person in my house, I've seen my Grandmother perform this spell so many times!"

He laughed, waved his wand and muttered "Scourgify."

Victor felt really hot then cold then dry as if he was going through a muggle car wash. Looking down, he saw that his robes were pumpkin-juice free.

"Thanks,' he said to Teddy.

Teddy smiled back.

"No problem,' he replied, putting his wand back in his pocket, 'It's not fair that you should be treated like that because you're not in the same house."

Victor nodded, then turned to the boy who had been talking to him before. He was red with embarrassment.

"Do you have a spare robe?' Victor asked politely, resisting the urge to snigger at the boy's face.

He nodded then ran out of the room as fast as he could, elbowing past Teddy and leaving a patch of pumpkin juice on his robes. He was followed by the reignited laughter from the Gryffindors. Teddy wiped the juice off while Victor edged away from the orange puddle that was spreading from the other boy's seat to his. Before either could say anything else, a teacher with beady eyes and a tiny face walked towards them and handed them a sheet of paper.

"Your timetables,' she said in a squeaky voice, then walked past to the next wizard.

"Who's that?' asked Victor before realising that Teddy was intently studying his timetable with a look of deep concentration on his face.

"I've got defense first,' he muttered, 'Then history of magic...Tuesdays look a little packed...transfiguration..."

He continued his ramblings until he remembered that Victor was still there.

"Looks like we have potions, defense and herbology together,' he said, smiling, 'Want to head off? My Godfather said he got lost on the first day of term so we better go now."

Victor looked down at his timetable one last time and walked out of Great Hall, Teddy following him. He chatted excitedly about all the things his Godfather had told him about Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"The teacher who came up to us earlier, she was Professor Ammon, she's the defense teacher. She looks a little watery though,' he said, accidentally kicking a boy who was walking in the opposite direction in the shins, his hair turning a little pink, 'Sorry. I'm so clumsy."

He rubbed the back of his head and they continued to walk quietly.

"Why is your hair purple today?' Victor asked after they had reached the Defense classroom, 'Only because yesterday it was blonde,' he added quickly, 'Does it change from day to day?"

"Well,' explained Teddy as they sat down at the back of the classroom, 'It's a little difficult to explain. There's no special training for Metamorphmaguses like myself as it's so rare, but it takes time to master. I was lucky I woke up with blonde hair on the first day of term: if it had been green or the colour it is today, I think I would have attracted even more attention."

He laughed and this time the tips of his hair flashed with yellow.

"It's a pretty awesome skill though. Watch."

Teddy turned to face Victor entirely and (although he went cross-eyed with the effort it took) managed to turn his nose into what looked like a small, elephant's trunk. Victor chuckled quietly.

"I have hours of fun entertaining my cousins with this. They're all pretty young at the moment so anything that flashes is amusing for them."

"It sounds fun,' Victor replied, wishing he had powers to change his appearance.

They continued to chat idly while the rest of the Slytherins and Gryffindors took their seats. They received a few odd looks ('A Slytherin and a Gryffindor sitting together?' 'Those are the two with the pumpkin juice earlier!') but paid them no attention. The boy from earlier walked in, gave Teddy the evils and took a seat as far away from the two of them as he could.

"Class,' came a voice from the stairs leading to Professor Ammon's office, 'It is time to begin. Take out your textbooks."

The woman from earlier emerged from behind the door looking (if possible) more faint-hearted than before. She walked carefully down the stairs then began to write her name on the chalkboard.

"We all know the darkness of this world,' she said, her voice so quiet everyone had to strain to hear her, 'It has been shown to us in the past many times. These classes are for you. So you can survive, thrive and DEFEND."

The shouted last word caused most pupils in the class to jump into the air. Professor Ammon looked pleased with herself.

"We shall be starting with defensive spells. Please turn to page 15 of your textbook."

* * *

"What did you think of Professor Ammon?' Teddy asked Victor as they hurried out of the defense room.

"I can't imagine her lasting long,' Victor muttered.

"Yeah, I agree,' said Teddy, smiling, 'I just want to get to all the cool, practical stuff like-"

He stopped when Victor went to turn down a different corridor to transfiguration.

"Where are you going?' he asked dumbly.

"I have transfiguration and you said this morning you have charms,' Victor replied simply, turning the other way.

Teddy caught his wrist before he could leave, tripping over his robes a little.

"I...I'll meet you in the Great Hall for lunch, yeah?' he asked.

Victor turned to face him entirely. Teddy's hair was turning pink, probably because of his trip, and he looked at him with such a pleading expression, Victor found it hard to say no.

"Ok, I'll meet you there."

Teddy's hand slipped down Victor's wrist and curled within his hand, shaking it.

"See you then,' he replied happily.

As Victor watched him go in the opposite direction he sighed. The shaking of the hands was a symbol of their, perhaps now solid, friendship; he was never going to get rid of Teddy now. Although, to be honest, he found he didn't really mind.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed that :) Review! CF**


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